


Thank You

by jeweldancer



Series: Where You Go, I Go [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Hospital, Illness, Surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:35:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4294443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeweldancer/pseuds/jeweldancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean's girlfriend becomes seriously ill while he is away on a hunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You

Dean automatically pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket while sliding into the Impala. There was a text from her. He absentmindedly wiped a streak of blood off his cheek while reading it. "call me when u can its important" Dean stared at the phone, a feeling of unease growing. Not only did she rarely text while he was on a hunt--she feared distracting him at a critical moment--but her texts were always grammatically perfect. 

He pushed the "call back" button so quickly it didn't take, and he desperately punched it again until the call went through. His heart dropped when a male voice answered. "What have you done to her, you son of a bitch?" Dean screamed into the phone. 

"Whoa, chill, dude!" the guy on the other end of the line stammered. "I'm just the guy who drove her here."

"Drove her where?" Dean listened intently and then slammed the phone down onto the car seat as Sam stared in confusion. 

"I can't find Cas anywhere. What's up?"

"Metropolitan Hospital. That's where she is." Dean replied and slammed the car into gear.

Dean covered the hour drive in a mere thirty-five minutes. He alternated between cursing, slamming his hands on the steering wheel, and calling for Cas, who did not appear. He swerved the Impala into a hospital staff parking space and hurried into the Emergency Department practically in a run. He leaned onto the intake desk and blurted out her name hoarsely. 

The receptionist typed her name into the computer and shook her head. "She's no longer in the emergency room; she's been moved to surgery." She looked into Dean's eyes and betrayed a hint of sympathy. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't have any more information than that. You'll want to go to the surgical waiting area so her doctor can talk with you when she gets out."

Sam took over from there, getting directions to the waiting room and guiding them to the elevator. Dean felt as if he were having an out-of-body experience. He didn't know what was moving his feet down the hall, but he seemed to have nothing to do with it. The walking was just happening. 

Sam gave her name to a matronly woman behind a desk, noting with discomfort that her name was Mary. He shrugged the coincidence aside; it was a common name. Mary wrote down their names on a list and plucked some visitor badges from a stack. "Relationship to patient?" 

Dean spoke up. "Husband. I'm her husband." Sam stared at him open-mouthed. Dean's voice cracked slightly as he continued, "And that's my brother."

"Husband and brother-in-law," chirped Mary. "All right, boys, you can join her other family right over there and wait for the doctor." 

"Other family?" Sam felt as if he were getting an unfair number of surprises today. 

"Why, yes, isn't that her brother over there?" Mary was unflappable, having gotten a more than fair number of surprises herself in her lifetime. She gestured toward a dark-haired man in a grease-stained uniform jacket sitting near the doorway. In case he had to make a break for it, Dean thought. "That guy has her bag," he muttered, staring at the purple shoulder bag in the adjoining chair. His feet suddenly found their motivation and he was standing before the man, blocking his exit. 

"You have thirty seconds to tell me everything or I will knock your frickin head off," Dean murmured, smiling as he spoke so that Mary wouldn't know something was up.

"Dude, you have some serious anger issues," the man stammered. "Especially since I was the one who brought her here in the first place. And stayed to make sure she was all right, seeing as she was alone." 

"You're running out of time." Dean's smile was becoming strained.

"All right! Thirty seconds! I'm Danny, I drove the cab that she called to bring her here, and she has appendi-whatever. They're like, taking her appendix out. I felt bad that she was alone so I told them I was her brother so I could stay. They won't tell you anything unless you're family. There. Now you know as much as I do." 

"And she gave you her phone."

"Yeah. She said not to call you because you was on an important job and all, but to answer when you called and tell you where to come. So I did. Here's her phone and her purse back, man. I never meant to get mixed up in anything, but damn, man. She is one tough lady. I couldn't leave without knowing she was all right."

Sam attempted to piece the story together while Dean sat on the edge of a chair, twisting his hands together and fidgeting. She had called a cab company and arranged to be picked up from a mall a few miles from their motel room, and Danny was the driver who showed up. After talking her through the spasms of pain causing her to writhe around the back seat of the cab, and carrying her into the emergency room yelling for help, Danny had gotten involved in spite of himself. "She said her man was on an important job, couldn't be contacted, too dangerous, and she was alone. So I lied and said I knew her, and I stayed with her til they took her away. To do an appen-dick-tomy. Or whatever. So."

"Why was she at a mall?" Dean muttered. "I told her to lay low."

"Yeah, she mentioned that. She was trying to make sure she wasn't followed. So she went to the motel office and called a cab to take her to the mall, then she walked to the other end of the mall and I picked her up there."

Sam chuckled softly. "Walking across the mall with with appendicitis. She's the only person I'd believe that of besides you, Dean."

"So, what kind of shit are you guys into, anyway? All this secret stuff. You're CIA, right?"

Sam cleared his throat and shot Dean a look. "No. Actually, we're FBI agents." He opened his wallet and showed Danny an ID. "It goes without saying that we would appreciate keeping this matter confidential."

"Yeah, whatever. I don't really give a shit. Is she FBI too?"

"She...she's a consultant." Sam replied.

"Good. She's a nice girl, I didn't like to think about her getting caught up in all that spy bullshit." Danny turned to Dean. "You're the boyfriend, I can tell. You look like you're about to explode. If you feel that way about her, you oughta not leave her in a cheap motel with nobody to call when she gets sick."

Dean really did look ready to explode now. Sam was trying to think of a way to salvage the situation quickly when Cas appeared in a nearby chair. 

"Cas! What the fuck is wrong with you? I've been calling for the last hour and a half, my wife is sick..." Dean stopped, looking confused.

Castiel was also confused. "I was not aware that you had a wife, Dean. It doesn't seem fair to-"

Sam broke in quickly. "That's who he means, Cas, he just misspoke. The point is we needed your help..."

Castiel's expression turned dark. "I have been with her in the operating room since she called me, guiding the hands of the surgeon. Is that what you meant by helping you?" He leaned back in the chair, looking exhausted. "Things seem to be going well now, so I came to let you know."

Danny cleared his throat. "Who the fuck is this? And where did he come from, out of nowhere?"

The conversation was halted from going further downhill when the surgeon arrived. He saw the look in Dean's eyes and ended the suspense by telling them she was doing fine in recovery. "I'm Dr. Preston, I did the appendectomy on your--"

Dean was getting used to the lie now. "My wife. I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my brother Sam." 

Danny chimed in, "I'm Danny, and I'm..." He caught the evil look from Dean, and finished, "...her cab driver."

"Oo-kay then," Dr. Preston had been around the block a few times, but this situation was getting a little interesting. He next glanced at Castiel, who was staring at him intently, and decided that the situation was getting a bit too interesting. Especially since he could swear he had met the guy in the trench coat before. He was so familiar. 

"Your wife presented with acute appendicitis, which is a surgical emergency. We took her to surgery soon after she arrived in the ER, and there were no complications. She should recover well, although it will take some time before she can resume normal activity." 

"Thank you, Dr. Preston. We're very grateful to you." Sam spoke, as it looked like Dean might hit the floor at any minute.

"It's quite all right. You should be able to go back and see her in a few minutes." The doctor nodded and took his leave of the odd group of men.

A nurse came out to fetch them in about half an hour, and Dean again felt as though his legs weren't working right. Sam got his arm and guided him up to the hospital bed, where she lay looking small and grey. The room smelled funny, and she looked so sick. Dean felt a wave of nausea overtake him. 

She opened her eyes, looking lost, and Dean knew he had get ahold of himself. He had to be a man. "Your husband and brother-in-law got here," the nurse told her in a loud voice. "Do you need anything? If not I'll leave you all to visit." 

She processed all this more slowly than usual due to the morphine drip, but soon she was grinning. "Sammy-in-law! I mean, bro-in-law. Get over here, man!" 

Sam squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. "Don't bother with the formalities, sweetie. Just plain brother is fine."

She met Dean's eyes and blushed, quickly looking away towards Danny. "Danny, you're still here? You're so sweet. I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me today." 

"No problem, ma'am. I really need to get home now, but if it's okay I'll stop by and check on you tomorrow."

"Oh, sure. Give my love to your kids, okay?" Danny clomped out towards the bank of elevators. 

Castiel crossed to the other side of the bed, and took her hand. "Do you remember me coming to you in the operating room?" 

She nodded shyly. "Thank you. Castiel...love you."

"And I, as well. Now I can heal you..."

"No, Cas, you can't! We're in the hospital. What's the doctor going to think when my incision is healed tomorrow morning?"

"Perhaps he will merely think that he did an excellent job. But if it is not your wish, I will refrain." 

Her eyes returned to Dean, and her solemn look dissolved into an impish smile. "Hello, my pretend hubby."

Dean leaned over her and stroked her hair gently. "I am your husband, in every way that matters. But when you're well again, if you'd like to make it legal, I'm more than fine with that." 

"Dean! You don't mean that, you're just upset. Don't worry, I'm on morphine. I'll forget about it by tomorrow."

"I don't care whether you forget or not. I'll remind you. You don't have to, you know, but I'm good with it." Dean pulled a chair up to her bedside and settled in. "Now you need to rest, sweetheart."

"No, wait, Dean. The wampires. Vampires. Did you get them?" 

"Shh. Yeah, we got 'em."

"Are you and Sham okay?"

"We're fine, sweetie. Now close your eyes. I'm right here."

"You won't leave?"

"Nope. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Dean waited until he was sure she was asleep, and then looked at Cas. "Go ahead, do it."

"You're gonna let him heal her? But she said no!" Sam was aghast. 

"I don't care. She's on morphine, she can't decide anything. And I can't risk anything happening to her, Sam. I can't." 

Sam was giving them his bitch face. Dean sighed. "All right, wait, Cas. I think I know what would work."

Castiel placed his hand on top of her blanket and concentrated. After a moment he removed his hand, looking smug. "There. Almost healed, but not entirely. Her incision is still visible, but she is not in danger from any internal hemorrhage. She'll still be sore and need rest, but the majority of the pain will be gone."

"Thank you. Thank you, Cas."

"You're most welcome, Dean, but you do not have to thank me for anything that I do for either of you. I would do it regardless. And I think now you should rest as well. I will remain here, and wake you if needed."

Dean and Sam settled in as best they could. Two of the chairs in her room reclined for sleeping, but Sam was much too tall and his feet hung off the footrest. After a few minutes of shifting uncomfortably, he poked Dean on the shoulder. "You really gonna marry her?"

"If she'll have me, yeah." Dean stared up at the ceiling. "I suppose you think it's a bad idea." 

"On the contrary. I think it's the best idea you've ever had. I just hope you don't chicken out tomorrow."

Dean felt suprisingly light and untroubled about it all. He smiled to himself and whispered, "Where 'm I gonna find a ring?"

Dean ended up sleeping well despite the creaky chair. He suspected that Cas had something to do with it. He woke as the sun rose, and watched the room get lighter, and waited for her to open her eyes. She awoke quietly and her eyes immediately searched Dean out. She tried to speak but made only a slight sound. Dean fetched an insulated cup with ice water that one of the nurses had left, and put the straw to her lips. "Better?"

"Better," she whispered.

"How do you feel?"

"Not nearly as bad as I expected. These drugs must be excellent."

Dean hid a smile and attempted to look at her sternly. "The doctor says you have to rest, so no arguments. I'm going to do everything for you, okay?" He helped her out of bed and into the bathroom, and waited, leaning against the door, until he heard the toilet flush and the sounds of her brushing her teeth. He guided her back to bed and settled her, then got a damp cool washcloth to bathe her face. 

"That feels good."

"Good." He patted her face dry with a towel. "Do you have a hairbrush in your bag?" She nodded. "Okay. Then I'm gonna brush your hair next." Dean was so gentle with that task that tears crept into her eyes. He found a bottle of lotion in the bag and used it to massage her hands and arms.

"Hey, baby, hey, don't cry. Are you okay?"

"I love you so fucking much that it fucking hurts."

"I could not have said that any better, angel. Marry me, then?"

"Oh, God, yes." 

Dean couldn't help it any longer, and crawled into bed next to her, nestling her in his arms. He smoothed her hair and hummed to her softly. 

"What song is that?"

"'Thank You' by Led Zeppelin."

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.  
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.


End file.
